Goldsboro gives South Central first-ever varsity victory

Goldsboro struggled with penalties and turnovers Friday night, setting itself up to become the first team to lose to South Central as the Falcons beat the Cougars 30-12.

In its second year of varsity football, South Central had lost its previous 17 games and was 0-12 in Class 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference play coming into Friday's game. But the Falcons jumped on Goldsboro's early errors to run up a quick 17-0 lead that Goldsboro never recovered from.

It was a scene Cougars coach Maurice Jackson had seen played out too much this season.

"Big play after big play, off of stupid mistakes," Jackson said. "We have got to grow up. We've said we are young too much. That's an excuse. We have no excuses. We are sloppy."

South Central tailback Tyrell Worthington had three touchdowns and ran for 183 yards to trigger the Falcons' attack. Worthington single-handedly buried Goldsboro with a brilliant first quarter.

The six-foot, 180-pound sophomore tore off a 53-yard touchdown run on the second play of the game for a 7-0 South Central lead. When Goldsboro was forced to punt, Worthington took the kick at the Falcon 38 and breezed back upfield for a 62-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

On the next series, Goldsboro went for a first down on fourth and inches from its own 29 and came up short, giving South Central excellent field position. The Cougar defense did a great job holding South Central to a 31-yard field goal by Blaine Kinsley to give the homestanding Falcons a 17-0 advantage.

After recovering a fumble in the second quarter, Goldsboro marched from its own 33 and concocted a nine-play drive, using crisp short passes to move downfield. Aaron Phifer went in from the two-yard line to give the Cougar faithful hope, trailing 17-6 at half.

Emotions and penalty flags swarmed around the third quarter. South Central was hit with four unsportsmanlike conduct penalties -- one before the second half even started.

Goldsboro ended a drive with a punt that nailed South Central back on its own two-yard line, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty moved the ball out to the 17. Two plays later, Worthington escaped around the left side for an 80-yard run to move South Central ahead 24-6.

Goldsboro fought back as Treme Boone took over at quarterback and began to move the offense. Goldsboro answered the Worthington score with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Boone to Tim Kornegay. Then the Cougar defense forced a three-and-out to get the ball back, starting a swing of momentum.

But all that stopped when Boone was sacked at the Falcon 20 to kill a long drive with 5:40 to play. Again, the Cougar defense shut down the Falcons, stopping South Central at its 17 on third-and-long. But the Cougars were flagged with another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to give South Central a first down. On the next play, Micheal Griffin sealed the win with a 62-yard touchdown run.

Boone ran for 51 yards to lead the Goldsboro rushing attack and threw for 103 yards. Phifer ran for 23 and caught five passes for 47 more yards. Jerry Gills and Jacob Sykes also caught five passes.

The penalty-filled game saw both teams combine for 30 flags and 256 yards. Goldsboro also suffered from four interceptions, a by-product of having to abandon its running game after falling behind.

Goldsboro's Devon Green was taken off the field by ambulance in the second half after an unspecified injury. His condition was not known.

The Cougars, needing to win all the rest of theirs games to become playoff eligible, could also play a spoilers role when cross-town rival Eastern Wayne comes to the Cougar Den Friday night.